Mississippi Power needs to rein in electricity rates

We get it. Mississippi Power Co. needs to make money in addition to making electricity.

We understand that fuel rates fluctuate. We know that it is customary for Mississippi Power to ask for a fuel rate increase this time of year.

What we don't understand is why the power company feels so strongly that it needs to increase rates again this year - even if it is a paltry 3.35 percent - after residential customers saw a 15 percent increase to pay for the not-yet-operational lignite-fueled power plant located in Kemper County.

Mississippi Power Co. told the Associated Press last week it needs to charge more in 2014 for fuel as part of its yearly rate evaluation, adding there would be no profit for the company from the hike.

If approved by the Mississippi Public Service Commission, residential customers would pay an extra 2.66 percent per month, the company says. That works out to $3.54 a month for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, but the average Mississippi resident uses more, the Associated Press reports.

Spokesman Keith Guillot says fuel charges were lowered in 2013 as the company rebated past amounts that it overcharged for fuel.

Those up-and-down adjustments are typical each year as regulators try to reconcile what a company actually paid for coal, natural gas and other fuels with projections that were built into earlier rates.

In addition to the 15 percent increase Mississippi Power customers began paying this year, another 3 percent is expected in 2014 to pay for the coal-fueled plant. Mississippi Power also has said it's likely in 2014 to seek an additional increase of at least 4 percent over 20 years to pay off $1 billion in bonds.

The company wouldn't make a profit on the bonds, under the terms of a January settlement that limited ratepayers' cost for the Kemper plant itself to $3.4 billion. Mississippi Power has 186,000 customers in 23 counties from Meridian to the Gulf Coast.

If the rates fluctuate throughout the year, often resulting in rebates for customers, the power company should just give customers a little extra in their energy stockings this Christmas.

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Mississippi Power needs to rein in electricity rates

We get it. Mississippi Power Co. needs to make money in addition to making electricity.